Chapter 9 Case Study
1. Discuss the benefits of Mr. Begay’s seeing the traditional medicine man, both
physical and psychological.
Traditional medicine man use is common among the American Indian culture.
The American Indians reach out to the medicine man for treatment because they
receive better treatment than from a healthcare facility. To become a medicine
man or women it may take 30 years to reach the full ability to cure illness. The
medicine man or women use meditation to find the cause of illness. Mr. Begay
may benefit psychologically from the medicine man due to the undivided
attention on him and the chant. The traditional medicine man may also use
treatments like massage, heat, and sweat baths to assist in the healing of the
illness. They refer to treatment as the singer. As the signer tells the client the
cause and how long the illness may last, his faith may continue to grow. The
growth will lead the individual to become free of all sickness.
2. Describe traditional American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) healers and describe
what they do.
A traditional healer is also called the Medicine Man or Woman. They use the
